before the Christian era.

The most important Old Irish saga after the _Tain_ is beyond doubt the
_Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel_, contained in LU. It deals with
events in the reign of the High-King Conaire Mor, who is said by the
annalists to have been slain in 43 B.C. after a reign of seventy years.
Conaire, who was a descendant of the Etain mentioned above, was a just
ruler, and had banished among other lawless persons his own five foster
brothers. These latter devoted themselves to piracy and made common
cause with one Ingcel, a son of the king of Britain, who had been
outlawed by his father. The high-king was returning from Co. Clare when
he found the whole of Meath in flames. He turned aside into Leinster and
made for Da Derga's hostel. The pirates perceive this, and Ingcel is
sent to spy out the hostel and discover the size of Conaire's force.
This gives the story-teller a chance for one of those lengthy minute
descriptions of persons in which his soul delighted. This catalogue
occupies one-half of the whole story. The pirates make their attack, and
the king and most of his followers are butchered.

We can do no more than enumerate the titles of other historical tales:
The "Destruction of the Hostel of MacDareo," describing the insurrection
of the Aithech-Tuatha (1st century A.D.), "The Expulsion of the Deisi"
and the "Battle of Mag Lemna" (2nd century A.D.), "Battle of Mag
Mucrime" (A.D. 195 or A.D. 218), "Siege of Drom Damgaire" (3rd century),
"Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedoin, father of Niall
Noigiallach" (4th century), "Death of Crimthann" (reigned 366-378),
"Death of Dathi" (d. 428), "Death of Murchertach, son of Erc," and
"Death of Diarmait, son of Cerball" (6th century) "Wooing of Becfola,
who became the wife of Diarmait, son of Aed Slane" (reigned 657-664),
"Battle of Mag Rath" (637), "Battle of Carn Conaill" (c. 648), "Death of
Maelfothartaig MacRonain" (7th century), who was a kind of Irish
Hippolytus, "Battle of Allen" (722).

It will be well to deal here with another class of story in its various
stages of development. We have seen that in the older romances there is
a close connexion between mortals and supernatural beings. The latter
are represented as either inhabiting the _sid_ mounds or as dwelling in
islands out in the ocean, which are pictured as abodes of bliss and
variously called _Mag Mell_ (Plain of Delight), _Tir na n-Oc_ (Land of
Youth) and _Tir Tairngiri_ (Land of Promis